AAFD Award Caffeinates Growth of Cuppy’s Coffee Franchise

by sean on March 13th, 2008

(FranchisePick.Com) Allegations last year that Cuppy’s Coffee & More collected $30,000 refundable fees from dozens of would-be franchise owners, then refused to give them back, brought Cuppy’s Coffee franchise sales to a standstill. Cuppy’s Coffee execs claimed all misdeeds were the fault of their evil predecessor, Roy Snowden & his Java Jo’z, a separate, unaffiliated company. Cuppy’s Coffee and parent Medina Enterprises claimed it had only purchased the assets of Java Jo’z - not it’s liabilities and debts.

Cuppy’s Coffee and parent Medina Enterprises then set out to publicly demonstrated their commitment to fair and ethical franchising by vowing to help the Java Jo’z victims get their money back (by garnishing the asset purchase payments they were making to the now-jailed Snowden - though they were under no obligation to do so, as they pointed out repeatedly). Cuppy’s Coffee also revised their franchise disclosure documents to meet the every wish of the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD), and were rewarded with a Fair Franchising award from AAFD, press releases, accolades, praise on the AAFD website, and an official limited edition AAFD white Stetson 10-gallon hat signed personally by AAFD founder Bob Purvin*.

Thanks, in part, to its much-touted award from the AAFD, the controversial Cuppy’s Coffee & More franchise company and the affiliated Elite Manufacturing are on a fast growth track. According to an article in the Coloradoan:

Cuppy’s Coffee is making its Northern Colorado debut today, becoming only the second Cuppy’s in Colorado, and two long-time friends are at the helm… Despite a limited business background, they’re not scared about opening a coffee business. Rather, they’re confident their product and shop is different, with things such as manual coffee and espresso machines rather than automatic ones found in most coffee shops, and their location on Drake Road is key.
…The shop on Drake Road is just the first of many Cuppy’s Coffee stores planned for Northern Colorado.
The parent company expects to open another 15 to 20 stores between Denver and Fort Collins in the next five years or so, said Andi Davidson, director of public relations for Cuppy’s Coffee. Longmont is home to a drive thru Cuppy’s, making the 353 W. Drake Road location the only Cuppy’s Café in the state.
While it seems Fort Collins is saturated with coffee shops, that doesn’t concern owners either…

Saturation not a concern for Cuppy’s Coffee

The Press-Enterprise Reports:

Undaunted by a slowing economy, a recently revamped Starbucks and increasing competition for the loyalties of gourmet java fans, Florida-headquartered Cuppy’s Coffee, Smoothies & More is in the midst of a California expansion.
The company has opened more than 60 franchised locations nationwide, and 11 more are in the works for California. It debuted its first Inland cafe on Winchester Road in Murrieta in 2006, the year of the company’s founding, and has since added stores in Chino and Rancho Cucamonga.
Company spokeswoman Andi Davidson said Cuppy’s has signed leases for three more Inland locations, likely to be built and opened later this year. They include a second store slated for Murrieta, one in Palm Desert and another in Lake Elsinore, though exact locations have not been announced.
“It’s a saturated market,” Davidson said of the Southern California caffeine scene. “It’s very competitive.”

New and future Cuppy’s Coffee franchise outlets are also making news in such markets as Harrisburg, PA, Athens, TN, Riverview, FL, Westminster, CO, Hattiesburg, MS, and Tampa, FL.

So a new fair franchising hero rides off into the sunset… bringing opportunity and drive-thru brew to new towns…

It’s the beginning of a great franchise success story. If it weren’t for all those pesky franchisees leaving comments that Cuppy’s Coffee (with no Java Jo’z to blame this time) is skirting franchise laws, taking refundable deposits and not giving them back.

Will we be hearing that it that these bad things are being done by Elite Manufacturing, not by award recipient Cuppy’s Coffee? The spin will be a little tougher this time, since they’re both owned by Medina Enterprises.

* I may have dreamed the bit about the white Stetson hat. If so, the AAFD is free to adopt the idea if they like it.

Cuppy’s AAFD Graphic: Cuppy’s website

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH CUPPY’S COFFEE, ELITE MANUFACTURING, MEDINA ENTERPRISES AND/OR THE AAFD? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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